Fossickers' Booty.

A bit of  opshopping in the last weeks of the holidays , all by myself  , is always an indulgent feeling. No-one saying things like; "can we go now..!" Or (always a killer) "what will you do with that? " 

Do you have to do something  with it?

 Is there a committee that needs a report on one's purchases' use and sensibility  ?

What if I just like to look at it and feel it so now and then.

Or simply marvel at something from a bygone era , and wonder who she was who made it...

So here some flowery cottons from 30 years ago. They go marvelously well with the polka dots in yellow and brown.

 And how can I go past these shoe stretchers, especially the ones with the little flowers on it. Maybe I will get bunions later in life and thank my lucky stars that I had the wisdom and fore-sight to stock up on these un-fashionable gadgets.  
  And I simply fell on to this apron after I saw someone else hold it up and put it down again.

What gorgeous scraps she used , and laid out quite balanced. There is only one stain in the pocket; she probably grabbed her hanky when her fingers were covered in gravy.  

All the seams have been embroidered with coloured floss in either a herringbone or a fly stitch.

And the whole apron is actually lined! Yes ,with an old flour bag , Oamaru flour with a snowdrop emblem. It is the back of the fabric with the printing showing through.

 Did she use it a lot? She took so much care with her stitching , was it for serving up the Sunday roast? She liked blue , then , so long ago.
  

  7 little Beatrix Potter books were staring at me in the ( oh my gosh!) free box at my local St.Vincent de Paul op-shop. Yes they were well loved , and the spines were pretty tatty. But how gorgeous each page...

If anything I could make some nice postcard out of them.  Although the strange Mrs. Tiggywinkle is my fave , I do have a weak spot for the handsome Jeremy Fisher.

 The back ground material?  It is a plastic  sheet with pictures of painting cats. I'm positive it's the "colour kittens" from the little golden books series. 

It must have been quite a durable plastic , since there isn't a crack in it. What could I make with it...? It was 50 cents , lol!
After some young guests had stayed the night , I suddenly realized that I was pretty short on flat single sheets. I have plenty of fitted ones that I got from my Mum . She also gave me 2 old fashioned pure cotton ones years ago , with embroidered ribbon at the top. Heavy , close woven

good quality from the beginning of her marriage , still in great nick after hundreds of washes (in front loaders may I add). 

That's what I wanted! In the beginning of my marriage or flatting I certainly couldn't afford those , and just kept replacing the cheap flimsy pollycotton sheets every few years. They look great until you wash the starch out of them. 

Sometimes you could find the old heavy ones in opshops.  So I went out expressly to search for them. And in the second op-shop that day (the Cranford hospice shop) I hit the jackpot! 2 identical single flat sheets with 2 matching pillowslips each , still in their plastic cellophane wraps! Never slept under!

The glue of the label has left a slight stain after 30 years in someone's cupboard, but this does not bother me . In the next shop ( red cross) I found another 2 sheets , white and peach , used this time but clean.

Yeah and a crocheted doily , just because it was super sweet.  I spend $20 in all. 4 percale sheets and pillowslips, great. And a new teacup for myself ; Maxwell & Williams no less.

So write that up in your usefulness committee report !